


Coming Together

by raise_a_glass



Series: Working Together [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: AU Post-Defenders, F/M, Gen, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 23:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12022902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raise_a_glass/pseuds/raise_a_glass
Summary: Claire is concerned about Danny and Colleen's mental well-being and decides to do something about it."Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." - Henry Ford





	Coming Together

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this prompt](http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/9408.html?thread=18048704#cmt18048704).
> 
>  
> 
> This takes place an unspecified number of weeks after the events of The Defenders, after things have calmed down, so to speak. AU in that Matt made it out with the others (just because).

Colleen and Claire had just finished up a training session and were putting their gear away as Danny entered the dojo. He was wearing a wrinkled suit, so Claire figured he must have come from Rand Enterprises. She knew that since the Hand were no longer a threat, he'd been spending more time there, trying to learn more about the company that was his family’s legacy. Colleen had mentioned to her that he was concerned about other people or organizations like the Hand using Rand to do harm.

Claire was taken aback at how _tired_ he looked, dark smudges under his eyes and something pinched in the line of his mouth. He nearly slammed the door behind him.

“Hey, is everything all right?” Colleen asked with a frown as she moved towards him.

“Yeah,” Danny replied, but he didn’t look at her, pulling distractedly at his tie. Colleen grabbed at his hands to still them and he looked a little sheepish as they exchanged a kiss in greeting, but then he was pulling away to tug at the tie again, and Claire noted with some alarm that he was practically vibrating with tension. The expression on Colleen’s face told her that the other woman had noticed as well.

"Did something happen at Rand?" Colleen asked carefully. "Something with Ward, maybe?" she added, her voice a little sharper. Claire raised an eyebrow. She'd been under the impression that Danny and Ward were on good terms now. Well, maybe not _good_ , but at least no longer adversarial.

Danny fidgeted, repressed agitation fighting to get out obvious in every line of his body. His mouth twisted a little as if he was struggling to find the right words.

"He didn't _do_ anything," Danny finally said, his voice a little sullen, reminding Claire of how painfully _young_ he could be. "He just... I just wish...." His voice trailed off as he ran his hands through his hair, shutting his eyes tight. Claire and Colleen exchanged a worried glance and then he was spinning around and slamming his fist against the wall with a cry, cracking the plaster. Both women jumped back, gasping in shock.

"Danny!" Colleen cried in alarm, starting to move forward but he flinched back, wild eyes shooting back and forth between her and the damaged wall. He stalked away from her, running his hands through his hair. And then he suddenly stopped and closed his eyes, clenching his fists at his side as he drew in a slow, deep breath. By the time he finished exhaling he had visibly calmed.

Well, Claire thought grimly, he hadn't so much calmed as stuffed all his feelings back down deep inside, waiting for the next inevitable explosion.

"Colleen, Claire," he said, looking at each of them in turn. "My apologies. I shouldn't have lost control like that. It was weak. I'll get the wall fixed as soon as possible, Colleen." Claire's heart ached at how lost he looked.

"Hey, technically it's your wall, remember?" Colleen replied with false levity. Claire could easily see how worried she was. Colleen moved forward again and Danny let her approach, looking at her sadly. She took both of his hands into hers, rubbing her thumb over the reddened knuckles of his right hand before leaning up to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. "It's just a wall, it's not a big deal. But _you_ hurting is a big deal. I _love_ you. I wish you would talk to me. You can talk to me about anything."

Danny's gaze darted away from hers uncomfortably, and his answering smile was unsteady.

"I know. I love you, too. With everything that I am." He leaned down to kiss her again, lingering longer than she had. Claire suddenly felt uncomfortably like a voyeur. Danny finally pulled back with a sigh.

"I need to change out of this suit, I feel like it's strangling me. And then we can figure out what to do for dinner. Maybe you could join us, Claire?" he asked, his gaze looking over to meet hers hopefully.

"That would be great, thank you," Claire replied with a smile. Danny beamed, and though he still looked ragged and tired, she was once again struck with how quickly he could bounce around across the emotional spectrum. It was worrying.

Danny retired to the bedroom and Claire immediately grabbed Colleen's arm and pulled her over to the opposite side of the dojo in search of a modicrum of privacy.

"What was that about?" she hissed quietly. "Is something going on with Ward or Rand?"

Colleen chewed her bottom lip for a moment, glancing back to the curtained doorway of the bedroom.

"There's nothing really going on specifically," Colleen replied, keeping her voice low as well. She paused for a moment, as if struggling to find the right words. "I mean, it's an understatement to say that things were not good between them when Danny first got back."

"Understatement," Claire agreed drily. Colleen smiled a little, but there wasn't much humour in it. "But I guess even before the crash they didn't have the best relationship, though he hasn't told me many details. So things are... complicated."

"I thought they were all friends when they were kids, Danny and the Meachums. Danny’s _only_ friends, in fact," Claire said with a frown.

"Well," Colleen replied, her mouth twisting. "Chalk it up to yet another example of Danny desperately clinging to a rose-coloured view of things in his life that were actually really shitty."

Claire raised her eyebrows in surprise, taken aback not just by the words but also by the vitriol behind them. And then she registered that Colleen was almost trembling with emotion, her feelings written all over her face. She wasn't mad, at least not at Danny. She was _scared_.

"Hey," Claire said gently, stepping forward to gently place her hands on her shoulders. "Hey, Colleen, look at me." She waited until Colleen complied before continuing, her heart breaking a little at the lost look on the other woman's face. "What's been going on?" It took a moment for Colleen to compose herself enough to speak.

"Things have been... hard. I don't think either of us really know what to do now. Before, Danny had the Hand to focus on, to take up almost all of his energy. He didn't have to focus on... everything else." Colleen paused, looking away again. Claire knew it couldn't be easy for her to speak about such personal things, and she felt honoured to have earned her trust. She squeezed Colleen's shoulder in reassurance.

"Now... he's kind of all over the place, needing to do _something_ but not really sure what. So he's spending a lot of time at his father's company, trying to do good there," Colleen continued. "I don't really think Ward's being purposely difficult or anything like that. He seems sincere in his remorse about everything that happened with Harold. But there's so much bad history between them, and I think now that Danny doesn't have a crisis to focus on all that stuff is weighing on him. And... I don't know what to do. I thought maybe when the Hand was gone that he would... get better. That _both_ of us would _feel better._ And I... I don't know.... _"_ She looked at Claire helplessly.

"Oh, honey," Claire breathed, pulling her into a hug. Colleen barely stiffened for a moment before melting into it, clinging onto her as if for dear life.

"Hey, did you guys think about...." Danny's voice trailed off as he emerged from the bedroom and saw them clinging to each other over in the opposite corner. He blinked in confusion, his face quickly filling with worry. He rushed forward. "Did something happen? What's wrong? Are you guys okay?"

Claire released Colleen from her embrace and the younger woman stepped back, looking a little embarrassed. Danny put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes scanning over her as if checking for injuries.

They really love each other, Claire thought, watching them. It's definitely the real deal. Two emotional wrecks in love. _Oh, God._

"She's okay, Danny. Sometimes girl talk gets a little emotional," she said lightly, knowing that Colleen wouldn't want her to say anything. Danny only looked more confused in response and Claire resisted the urge to face-palm. Gaps in his knowledge of cultural clichés were hardly his fault.

"I'm okay, Danny, really," Colleen insisted. "What were you saying?"

"Oh," Danny said, looking unconvinced. "Uh, I was asking if you'd thought about what you wanted for dinner."

"I have an idea," Claire said, a plan starting to come together in her mind. She could respect Colleen's wishes for discretion - to a certain extent. But the situation couldn't be allowed to continue as it was. She, too, had hoped that Danny would get 'better' after the Hand was gone, that he would take the time to get the help he obviously needed and to heal. And that Colleen would take the journey with him and start to heal some of her own wounds as well. But it was suddenly quite clear that the opposite was happening and they were both spiraling out of control. They needed help, and they needed it now.

"Do tell," Colleen smiled, clearly trying to project an air of normalcy.

"The Royal Dragon re-opened a couple of weeks ago, right?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, it'll be two weeks tomorrow," Danny said, looking a little sheepish now though he still looked worried. He hadn't removed his hand from Colleen's shoulder and was now massaging it in gentle circles. She doubted he was even aware he was doing it.

Danny had felt so guilty about all the damage done to their restaurant hideout when the Hand had attacked them there that he had bought the building and then basically given Mr. Zhang, who owned the restaurant, carte blanche to go as extravagant as he wanted with repairs and renovations. He'd also given him free rent for two years. Somehow Claire doubted that the Royal Dragon would ever pay a cent of rent again, not as long as Danny had a say in it. Sometimes she marveled that anyone who had been through so much could have such a pure, generous heart.

"Well, they have private function rooms, right? How about we rent one out for a private party?" she suggested with a smile. Her smile widened as Danny cocked his head like a confused puppy. He reminded her of a puppy on an uncomfortably frequent basis.

"Private... party?" he asked.

"Well, private dinner," Claire amended. "I think we should get Luke, Jessica, and Matt and all have dinner together. I think it would be fun and you all haven't seen each other in weeks." She watched as Danny's face lit up at the suggestion only to see it start to dim again almost right away.

"They're probably busy," he said, looking away. Claire frowned at him. She was getting the feeling that there was something deeper going on there as well.

"I know for a fact Luke is free. I'll get him to round up Jessica and Matt. Trust me," she smiled. "Why don't you call the restaurant. Let's say... eight o'clock?"

"Okay," Danny replied uncertainly. He looked at Colleen.

"I think it's a great idea," she said. He nodded and pulled out his phone, stepping away as he dialed.

"I'm just going to step out into the hallway to call Luke, okay?" Claire said, pulling out her own phone. She paused as Colleen touched her arm.

"I know you're up to something, but I trust you enough to know it must be something good," she said quietly. Claire squeezed her hand before stepping out of the dojo for some privacy. She hit the speed dial for Luke and he answered on the second ring.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Luke asked. Normally she'd be on her way home from her lesson with Colleen at that time.

"Nothing life or death," she reassured him right away. "Dinner at the Royal Dragon at eight. Drop whatever you're doing and collect Jessica and Matt. Accept no excuses. Danny is calling the restaurant now to arrange a private room and if for whatever reason it's not available we'll relocate, but dinner _is_ happening tonight."

"Okay," Luke said agreeably after a pause. "What's going on?" Because he was smart enough to sense that it wasn’t a random idea.

"I think all you superhero-types need to start spending time together. It shouldn't take a criminal threat to make it happen and frankly I can't believe you guys haven't done it yet," Claire said flatly.

"Uh," Luke started, clearly taken aback, but Claire continued.

"The last time you were all together was at that last meeting about Midland Circle with the DA, right? That was weeks ago."

"I texted Jessica a couple of times! You know that!" Luke protested. It was true. Jessica had even replied once or twice, just a few words assuring him she was fine. "And Matt asked for some time and space to process after everything that happened, remember?" She did, and she figured Matt probably needed the dinner just as much as Danny and Colleen did.

"And what about Danny? Have you tried to contact him?" she asked. She thought about how Danny's obvious initial excitement had quickly deflated. "Has _he_ tried to contact _you_?" Her stomach sank as Luke was silent for a few moments.

"He's texted me a few times.... Look, I can already see where this is going. He's not a bad kid, I _like_ him, I do, but he's also a bit much to deal with.... I put him off a few times, always with the honest intention that I _would_ make plans with him the next time he asked, but now that you mention it, he hasn't texted me in over a week." He heaved a big sigh. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

"You bet," she said drily, rubbing her eyes in frustration. Danny had likely felt like he was being brushed off and had given up. With his abandonment issues she could only imagine how hurt he'd been. And though he was probably honouring Matt's request for space, he'd likely also reached out to Jessica, and Claire didn't even want to think about what kind of response she would have given him, if she'd even replied at all.

What a bunch of idiots. Every last one of them. What would they do without her?

"Danny and Colleen are both in rough shape, Luke," she said softly. "I'm really worried about them. And it's been long enough that someone should be looking in on Matt anyway."

"I'll handle Jessica and Matt," Luke replied without hesitation. "We'll be there. Text me if the location changes."

"Thanks, Luke," she smiled. "I knew I could count on you." She paused for a moment. "You all need each other," she added softly.

"What would we do without you?" Luke asked ruefully.

"I was just wondering the same myself," she laughed. They ended the call and she stepped back into the dojo.

"We're all set for the Royal Dragon," Danny said.

"That's great!" she smiled. He smiled, too, but he seemed agitated, fidgeting with the sleeves of his oversized sweater and not really meeting her gaze. She glanced at Colleen quizzically but she only gave a little shrug in response.

"Something on your mind, Danny?" Claire prompted. He shifted a little bit before responding, and she was struck again by how young and tired he looked.

"You're sure they're going to come?" he finally asked, still not looking at her. Her heart ached for him, and she kind of wanted to smack Luke for being so thoughtless. But, in all fairness, he didn’t know nearly as many details about Danny’s history as she did.

“Absolutely. Luke said they’ll be there, so they’ll be there,” she stated with confidence. He was quiet for a moment, and then he looked at her, a wistful smile twisting his lips.

"They'll be there because _you_ asked them to be," he said. It easily could have sounded angry or bitter, but there was no trace of either. Just sadness and longing. She was speechless for a moment.

“It’ll be great, you’ll see,” she said, nodding firmly. No, the situation most definitely could not continue as it was. Not even for one more day.

___

When the three of them arrived at the Royal Dragon later that evening Mr. Zhang greeted Danny enthusiastically and they spoke together in Mandarin as the restaurant owner led them back to the private function room. Claire was gratified to see that Luke, Jessica, and Matt were already there.

“You came!” Danny exclaimed, sounding like an excited child.

“Of course we did,” Luke said as he rose from the table to kiss Claire in greeting. Jessica rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her no-doubt alcoholic drink. Claire eyed her and Matt critically. They were both pale and tired-looking, Matt in particular looking decidedly more disheveled than he normally would.

She should have thought of this weeks ago.

 “Of course,” Danny agreed without argument, though Claire caught him shooting her a glance. He was still convinced she was the only reason the others had come. And maybe that was true. She had no idea what Luke had said to Jessica and Matt to get them there. But they _were_ there, and that was what mattered.

Once they were all settled at the table they ordered copious amounts of food. Claire felt a twinge of guilt that it went unspoken that Danny would be footing the bill, but, well, _billionaire_. One that was only too happy to share his wealth.

Conversation was a little stilted at first but the others’ reticence was no match for the force of nature that was Danny Rand’s enthusiasm. Claire observed sadly that he may not have believed that they wanted his company, but he was sure as hell going to make the most of it while they were all together. The tired, pinched look to his face was melting away as he chattered on about various topics. Colleen was looking more relaxed, too, some of the tension draining from her shoulders. Luke squeezed her hand under the table and Claire looked at him quizzically.

“I see what you meant,” he said softly to her as Danny doggedly tried to convince Jessica to start lessons at the dojo to learn proper fighting technique. Jessica was less than thrilled at the idea. “They look like they really needed to relax.” Claire squeezed Luke’s hand back.

“You should come, too, Luke!” Danny said, and they both focused back in on the conversation. “You guys really shouldn’t be relying on brute force alone.”

“Hey, I don’t rely on brute force alone,” Luke protested good-naturedly.

“If it works, it works,” Jessica sniped, but Claire could tell that she was more amused than annoyed.

“But it could work _better_ ,” Danny argued. “And Colleen is an excellent teacher, just ask Claire!”

“Two thumbs up,” Claire agreed with a laugh. Colleen grinned.

“Matt, you should come by the dojo, too, we could practice together!” Danny added eagerly. “Maybe we could _all_ help each other improve our techniques….” Suddenly his voice trailed off and he blinked a few times. The excited state he’d worked himself up into started to deflate. “But… I guess you guys have your own ways of doing things. It’s probably a dumb idea anyway,” he said, not meeting anyone’s gaze. An uncomfortable silence descended over the table. Appalled at the sudden shift in mood when things had been going so well, Claire started to speak but Luke beat her to it.

“Actually, I think it’s a great idea,” he said. Danny blinked at him in surprise.

“You do?” he asked, perking up a little. Claire could see that he was reluctant to get too excited.

“Yeah,” Luke said. “We should all start meeting up at the dojo to train together. Who can say when we might have to fight together again? Being more familiar with each other’s fighting styles can only be a bonus.”

“I don’t have a fighting style,” Jessica interjected drily. Luke just grinned at her.

“You know, he has a good point that you and I could probably use a little more… finesse,” Luke said. Jessica rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

“I think it’s a good idea, too,” Matt said quietly, one of the few contributions he’d made to the conversation. “It would be naïve to think we shouldn’t prepare for the future.” Jessica looked at him consideringly for a moment before throwing her hands in the air in a gesture of defeat.

“Fine. I guess I’m in for superhero fight club,” she said. Danny grinned so hard it rivalled the sun, clearly overjoyed.

“Training sessions are a fantastic idea and I’m all for them,” Claire said. “The reason I suggested this dinner in the first place was because I think you guys need to spend more time together." She paused for a moment and then decided that being straightforward was the best course of action. "I’m going to be frank. You all have more issues than a magazine stand.” Jessica snorted and Danny looked a little chagrined. “But I also think you have the potential to be an amazing support system for each other, if you give it a chance.” There was a moment of silence as they all mulled over her words.

“Does this mean we’re officially calling ourselves a team?” Matt asked. Jessica looked aggrieved.

“Why not? Would that be so bad?” Claire asked, shooting Jessica a look.

Luke picked up his glass, raising it in a toast.

“To being a team,” he said. Danny beamed, lifting up his glass. Colleen, Claire, and Matt all did the same. Jessica looked around at them before heaving a sigh and lifting her glass as well.

“Go team,” she said, and drank.

Danny, practically vibrating with excitement, ordered another round of drinks and desserts in celebration. Colleen leaned over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, beaming at him. Claire sighed in satisfaction. They already seemed so much more at ease than they had earlier. She looked around at the others as they started to discuss when they would next meet up and knew that they weren’t the only ones. Maybe they were a bunch of strange, haunted people, but at least they weren't alone. Not anymore.

This was going to work. She could feel it.

She knew one dinner wasn’t enough to heal a lifetime of hurts, but it was a start.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry that Jessica and Matt didn't have much of a role in this! I'd actually love to write epic-length fic about all the Defenders helping each other deal with their numerous and extensive issues, but this was meant to be a stand-alone piece focused more on Danny and Colleen.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
